Thursday, April 5

Go-karting, etc

While it's fresh in my head, I just want to relate that while I was at the gym downstairs today, there was this skinny young Indian kid running on the treadmill. After a while he left and ordered a plate of fries and ice cream outside. When he was done he came back and continued his workout.

The last couple of weeks have been fairly low-key. I've moved to a new flat in the apartment complex. This one is higher up and faces the street, so I get a good view of trees (nice) and the mall (less nice).

Last Friday I did have the good fortune to go go-karting. My friend's boss organized the event for a charity she works with that builds fences around the Aberdares National Park, or something. There were several expat NGO types, mostly from IRC, and a bunch of Kenyans from Barclays bank, the main sponsor.

It's been a while since I've driven at all, let alone a go-kart. While I did spin out a couple of times, I didn't embarrass myself or crash, as several drivers did on the poorly lit course, but I didn't make it to the final round either. I kept positioning myself to launch a shell at the driver in front of me or drop a banana peel behind me, but sadly no such features on these karts. But they do give you sweet suits...




On Saturday I went to a bar to watch British Premier League soccer, Kenya's national sport. During the Man United game, we were joined by, supposedly, Tom Morello's half-brother, whose name, ironically enough, is Bush. After a stop at the always-pleasant Maxland, we sampled the pretentious side of Nairobi's nightlife. The Mercury Lounge feels like it could be in downtown DC, which is not a good thing. Bar Code is small, and has no good ambiance to make up for it.

Other than that, the highlight of the past couple of weeks has been listening to the new Panda Bear album. It more than made up for the underwhelming new Ted Leo, though I still love the guy.

3 comments:

Aaron said...

Interesting that a guy who is also presumably the great-nephew of Jomo Kenyatta would cite the Morello connection instead.

Anonymous said...

That jumpsuit rules.

JF said...

fuck yeah, derek.

panda bear: 1
ted leo: 0

when i see you in that suit, all can think of is: "a cool fool"